


About Time

by swimmingwolf59



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future Fish, Birthday, Fluff, M/M, Sousuke's a dork, Swimming Pools, lostsuke (a little)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2015-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-20 18:45:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4798379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swimmingwolf59/pseuds/swimmingwolf59
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sousuke and Haruka have been struggling to match up their schedules to even see each other during the day, but finally they both have the day off and can spend time together. However, Haru's acting....well, WEIRD, and Sousuke can't help but wonder if he's forgotten something extremely important.</p>
            </blockquote>





	About Time

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOUSUKE!!! <3 <3  
> I love you. I hope you enjoy every bit of happiness today because you deserve it ^-^  
> I'm trash for writing this.  
> But I hope you enjoy it anyway xD"  
> Thanks for reading!!

Sousuke thinks that he’s had the most exhausting weekend in the history of anyone.

He was on duty the _entire_ time, which not only sucked as it was, but also meant that he was unable to have the weekend with Haru like he’d promised. The crime rate in Iwatobi seems to have risen exponentially lately (which Sousuke really doesn’t understand; it’s such a small town that every single person has to be a criminal with how much running around he and the other police officers have been doing lately) and Haru’s café has been so busy that Sousuke can’t even find a seat to sit down and at least _see_ his boyfriend. As it is, Sousuke only sees Haru at night, when he’s so exhausted that he can’t do anything but fall into bed and relish Haru’s arms around him.

He’d been looking forward to a weekend of alone time with the man he loves, but even that was snatched away from him.

Sousuke feels bad, because he knows Haru’s just as frustrated as he is from their lack of contact, but he doesn’t know what he can do about it. It had occurred to him a couple of times to quit the police force and its horrible hours, but Sousuke really doesn’t know what he can even do in life without it.

So he doesn’t, and just slowly gets grouchier and more miserable the less he’s able to see Haru.

When he gets home Sunday night, having had to listen to Rin jabbering on and on for the last hour (something that definitely wasn’t as endearing as it used to be), Sousuke barely makes it past the front door before he falls face first onto the floor and just lies there.

“Sousuke?” He hears Haru enter the room, but doesn’t have the energy to even lift his head.

“I’m…just going to stay here for a little bit, okay?”

He’s met with silence, and at first Sousuke wonders if Haru just walked away and left him to his fate. However, he’s soon scared out of his skin when a big weight suddenly settles on his back. He can hear the sound of pencil lightly scratching on paper, causing Sousuke to breathe out his nose in exasperation.

“Rough day, huh?” Haru says nonchalantly.

“Are you seriously sitting on me right now?” Sousuke grumbles. “And _sketching_?”

Sousuke can almost hear Haru shrug. They elapse into silence, and the police officer decides to just let it go. It’s not like Haru’s particularly heavy, and if he’s allowing him to just lie on the floor and not move a muscle then Sousuke’s perfectly content with that.

Except for one thing.

“Hey Haruka…” Sousuke starts hesitantly, using his full name purposefully to make sure he gets his attention, “Sorry about not being able to spend the weekend with you like I promised.”

The pencil stalls for a second before it continues. “… It’s fine.”

“It’s not,” Sousuke argues, “You’re important to me and I should be trying harder to make time for you. Besides, I… I miss you.”

Haru’s pencil stops all together and suddenly his weight is gone from Sousuke’s back. Sousuke takes a deep breath, trying to find the energy to get up because now he’s gone and hurt Haru somehow and he needs to fix it, when suddenly Haru is lying on his back next to him, his head tilted towards Sousuke. Sousuke looks back at him, getting lost in those deep ocean blue eyes that he loves so much.

“Then make it up to me,” Haru says, “You’re off work tomorrow, right?”

Sousuke blinks, unable to pull himself away from Haru’s eyes. “Huh? Yeah, yeah I think so.”

“Good.” Haru leans forward and pecks a kiss on Sousuke’s lips. “Don’t plan anything.”

Sousuke grins, reaching out to rest his hand on the back of Haru’s head, keeping him in place as he kisses him more deeply. When they separate, Sousuke rests his forehead on Haru’s and closes his eyes contently. “If it means I get to spend the whole day with you, then I won’t.”

“It’s ridiculous we need a special occasion to spend time together, though,” Haru says after a minute of silence. “Especially since we live together.”

Sousuke raises an eyebrow. “Special occasion? What are you talking about?”

“It’s nothing.” Haru’s eyes sparkle with mischief and Sousuke can’t help but worry that he’s forgotten something extremely important.

 

\--

 

After an hour of just cuddling on the floor, Sousuke had found the energy to take a shower before he collapsed into bed. The last thing he’d been conscious of was Haru burrowing himself into his side.

When he wakes up, it’s to the smell of tonkatsu and he blinks his eyes open in confusion. Tonkatsu? For breakfast? That’s odd, considering that if Haru’s in charge of making breakfast for the morning it’s _always_ mackerel. Sousuke can’t remember the last time he had something for breakfast that wasn’t fish.

Something must be wrong.

“Haru?” Sousuke stumbles out of bed, dragging himself into their kitchen. Haru’s wearing the dolphin apron Sousuke gave him for his birthday, standing at the stove as he prepares tonkatsu. There’s a can of cola waiting at Sousuke’s spot at the table, causing the police officer to raise an eyebrow as he hugs Haru from behind. He places a hand on his boyfriend’s forehead. “Are you feeling well? You know that’s not mackerel, right?”

“Of course I do,” Haru glances at him out of the corner of his eye before he returns to the cooking meat. “You really don’t remember, do you?”

“Remember what?” Sousuke says in frustration at Haru’s tone, before he remembers the conversation he’d had with him last night. “Is this about that special occasion you were talking about earlier?”

Haru laughs, and it’s the bubbly kind that Sousuke loves but hears so rarely that his heart seems to stop beating. He just stands there and stares at his boyfriend in disbelief as he finishes cooking the meat and finally turns around to face Sousuke.

Wrapping his arms around Sousuke’s shoulders, Haru headbutts his forehead affectionately. “You’re a dork.”

“Am not,” Sousuke says childishly before he leans forward to kiss Haru. Haru lets him for a couple of seconds before squirming out of his grasp to finish making breakfast. Sousuke barely constrains a whine of disappointment, but he knows better than to double cross Haru when he’s in the kitchen so he just trudges his way back to the table and opens his cola.

As he takes a sip, he can’t help but wonder why Haru’s treating him to all of his favorite foods.

They eat breakfast in relative silence, the atmosphere a huge relief for Sousuke. He loves when he can just sit quietly and enjoy Haru’s company, with neither of them having pressure to fill the silence with useless words, and he really hasn’t been able to enjoy it enough. He can’t even remember the last time he’d been able to sit down for breakfast, let alone with Haru.

He’s enjoying his last bite of tonkatsu when Haru suddenly speaks up.

“Let’s go somewhere.”

“Okay, where?” Sousuke plays along easily, as it’s not often Haru invites them outside of their house. His version of a date is usually cuddles on the couch and then rough sex either on the very same couch, the bed, or recently the bathtub. It’s usually Sousuke that gets them out in public somewhere.

“It’s a surprise.” Haru sticks his nose in the air before he gets up to put his dishes in the sink.

Following his example, Sousuke stares at his boyfriend in bafflement as he puts his dishes away. “Oh come on, Haruka – what am I, five years old?”

Haru suddenly turns around and stares at him very dramatically. Sousuke blinks at him, waiting for him to say whatever’s on his mind that caused this weird reaction, but he says nothing, making the police officer even more confused. “…What?”

“…Nothing.” Haru continues to stare at him before he disappears upstairs to presumably change into something he can go out in, leaving Sousuke standing alone and lost in the kitchen.

Well that was weird.

After lingering for a moment more, Sousuke snaps out of his trance and decides he’d better get dressed, too. He follows Haru upstairs, waiting for the chef to hurry into the bathroom before he goes into their room. After he puts on his gray and black striped swimsuit (one too many outings with his boyfriend that had ended in water disasters led to Sousuke wearing his swimsuit wherever they go just in case), he dons a green plaid shirt with a loose black button-up sweater over it and a pair of blue jeans.

He figures it’s casual enough, but he does want to look nice for Haru so he attempts to tame his hair for a couple of minutes in front of the mirror. Lying on the floor really hadn’t done anything for his usual bad bedhead, but he somehow manages to make it look at least decent by the time Haru comes out of the bathroom.

“You ready?” The freestyler asks, poking his head into the room as Sousuke flattens a few more strands of loose hair.

Sousuke glares at his hair in the mirror before he grins at Haru. “Yeah, so take me away, officer.”

Haru rolls his eyes. “You really have been at work too much.”

Laughing, Sousuke follows the freestyler out of their bedroom and out of the house. Haru still doesn’t lock the door, after all these years, and Sousuke’s just waiting for them to come home someday to find all of their possessions gone. Haru insists no one would steal from a police officer, but Sousuke stubbornly believes he’s just being lazy. Heck, Haru probably doesn’t even know where the keys _are_.

Sousuke sighs, but leaves the matter alone. Today is not the day for that – after all, he does owe Haru for breaking his promise.

He lets Haru lead him on for a moment before he starts to get suspicious of their destination. He may be bad at directions (okay, _incredibly_ bad), but even he knows how to get to the local pool. A strange mix of emotions hits him: excitement at the thought of water, paranoid worrying as he thinks he can already feel his shoulder twinging even though it hadn’t bugged him lately, and slight irritation at Haru for tempting him to swim.

“Haruka…” Sousuke starts. “We’re not going to the pool, are we?”

Haru doesn’t say anything, just glances back at him with an impassive expression, which is all the proof Sousuke needs. Sighing, he stops walking and waits for Haru to face him. “Look, I appreciate the sentiment, but I really can’t—”

“You don’t have to _swim_ , Sousuke,” Haru interrupts, grabbing his hand and forcefully pulling him forwards as he starts to walk again. “Come on.”

“You can see your husband sometime else, Haruka,” Sousuke snaps as he frees himself from his boyfriend’s grasp and stops walking again. “I thought we were going to do stuff together!”

Haru stops walking and turns around again with a huff of frustration; Sousuke can’t help but find his pout cute. “We _are_ doing stuff together. This isn’t for me.”

“This is for _me?_ You _want_ me to wreck my shoulder all over again?!” Deep down, Sousuke realizes he’s taking out his frustrations of being unable to swim out on Haru again, just like he always did when he was in high school, and he knows he _should_ feel bad, but Haru should know by now that swimming is out of the question for him. He doesn’t have to rub it in.

“You can’t tell me you don’t miss the water.” Haru’s eyes are blazing, and _now_ Sousuke’s starting to feel bad. “And I already said you don’t have to swim.”

Sousuke stares Haru down for a bit before he sighs, giving in. He really can’t say no to Haru’s pout, and he doesn’t want their one day together to end in fighting. He rubs the back of his neck, feeling sheepish, as he mumbles out, “Fine. But I won’t go in the water.”

Haru huffs, but he seems to accept it as he starts walking towards the pool again. Sousuke follows slightly behind him, wondering why he feels so apprehensive.

Maybe it’s because he feels like he’s facing his old frustrations and bad decisions all over again.

When they get there, the pool is so deserted that Sousuke at first thinks it’s closed. Haru opens the door easily, however, and they make their way inside. All of the lights are on, and there’s someone at the front desk, who Haru simply nods at as they walk past, but when they open the doors to the pool deck it’s absolutely empty. There’s not even a lifeguard on top of the watchtower, making Sousuke wonder suspiciously if Haru planned all of this.

There’s no way a pool would be totally empty on a Monday afternoon.

Before Sousuke can ask his boyfriend about it, however, Haru has stripped off all of his clothes and leaped into the pool. The police officer stands around, awkwardly, watching Haru dolphin kicking near the pool bottom, before he hesitantly approaches the water. He said he wasn’t going to go in, but Haru’s right; he _does_ miss the water. Surely a little bit can’t hurt, right?

So he slips off his shoes and sits down on the edge, sticking his feet into the water. He’d been tense before, but he slowly relaxes as the water slips around his toes. It’s nice and cool and feels amazing, and Sousuke takes a deep breath in relief as he leans back on his hands.

He hadn’t touched the water in nearly a year, and _god_ did he miss it.

As he watches Haru swimming around, however, he realizes he’s in deep trouble; the urge to swim is getting _really_ bad. He’d been able to control himself by not going to the pool, but now that he’s here the temptation is too strong. He wants to swim; he wants to feel the water caressing him and propelling him forward like it used to; he wants to feel his pulse race as he swims against Haru like he did in middle school.

He’s just about to strip and dive in when cold reality slaps him in the face: he _can’t._ His shoulder is finally starting to get better – he can’t ruin everything now. Not again.

The crushing disappointment is enough to make Sousuke want to cry.

Why did Haru bring him here?

He watches Haru diving in and out of the water, only surfacing to wave at Sousuke before ducking back down again. Sousuke’s frustration and desperation rises until he can’t stand it; he has to swim or get out of here.

When Haru surfaces again, Sousuke says quickly, before he can go back under, “Haru, we should go now.”

“No.” Haru sends him a pointed look Sousuke can’t interpret before he dives under the water again.

Sousuke really doesn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that.

He has to wait a minute or so before Haru surfaces again, but when he does Sousuke crosses his arms and frowns at him, his irritation probably evident. “Haru, I didn’t come all the way out here to watch you play in the pool.”

“Then don’t just watch,” Haru says as he swims closer and squirts a stream of water from his mouth into Sousuke’s face. The police officer growls as he wipes the water and spit off his face before he leans forward, intending to give his boyfriend a piece of his mind.

That, however, is apparently what Haru was waiting for.

Before Sousuke can even react, the freestyler lunges out of the water and grabs his leg, pulling him back into the watery depths of the pool. Sousuke hits the water heavily and for a moment he just sinks to the bottom, his clothes dragging him down. Eventually his brain kicks in again and he struggles to shimmy out of his shirt and pants until he’s only wearing his swimsuit.

Throwing his wet clothes up onto the pool deck, Sousuke surfaces and shakes water out of his hair. He glares at Haru. “Thanks a lot.”

Haru’s face is half submerged in the water, but Sousuke can still see his little half-smirk. “You know you wanted to.”

“Yeah, well there were easier ways to do it,” Sousuke growls, but he finds his anger and frustration quickly dispersing as he lets the water surround him.

He swears he’s never felt anything this good.

However, he’s definitely not letting his boyfriend get away with that. Growling playfully, Sousuke propels himself towards Haru, trying to pin him against the edge of the pool. Haru, however, being the human dolphin he is, gracefully floats out of Sousuke’s grasp at the last second before swimming towards the other end of the pool.

They chase each other around the pool for a while, though Sousuke never manages to catch Haru since he’s being extra careful not to hurt his shoulder. Because of this, however, he can only really move around by floating and kicking; while he’s always been a good kicker, it’s not really useful when Haru has full mobility and swims like a sea creature. Not to mention that he can hold his breath the longest out of anyone Sousuke has ever met, so the police officer can’t even corner him like that.

Eventually, exhausted but happy, Sousuke rests his back against the edge of the pool and squats, relaxing as the water washes over him. When he sees Haru surfacing a little ways away, he says, “Okay, I give up. You win.”

With a small smirk that only Makoto and Sousuke would be able to identify, Haru floats over to Sousuke and sits on his lap, his legs around Sousuke’s hips and his arms around his shoulders the only things keeping him anchored as the water jostles them gently. Surprised, Sousuke rests his hands on Haru’s hips, just above his swimsuit, as Haru leans down to kiss him.

Sousuke smiles into the kiss, moving one of his hands to the back of Haru’s head to gently coax him into a deeper kiss. Haru complies, opening his mouth as his tongue meets Sousuke’s in an intricate dance.

Being here with Haru like this, surrounded by the water they both love so much, Sousuke can’t remember a time he was happier.

When they part, Sousuke can’t stop staring at Haru, his chest tight with affection for the smaller man. Haru’s cheeks are slightly flushed and he has that soft smile that practically melts Sousuke every time he looks at it. The water drips off of him perfectly, and he looks so natural and beautiful that Sousuke honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Haru told him one day he was born in the ocean.

Affection burning in his chest, Sousuke leans forward and places a soft kiss on Haru’s lips before he pulls away and smiles at him. “I love you.”

“And you said you didn’t want to go in the water,” Haru says teasingly, his pruned thumb coming up to gently caress Sousuke’s cheek. “I love you too.”

“Okay, so you were right,” Sousuke sighs in mock exasperation before he shifts suddenly, one arm going under Haru’s knees and the other supporting his back as he stands up out of the water. Haru jerks and Sousuke can’t help but laugh as his boyfriend’s grip tightens on his shoulder. Sousuke smirks at him. “But this just makes it easier to get you out.”

“Hey,” Haru complains, but Sousuke is already climbing out of the pool and walking towards where his clothes are still sitting in a damp pile.

“You can spend more time with your husband later,” Sousuke says as he picks up his clothes and carries them over to the swimsuit drier. Technically he’s not supposed to use the machine for street clothes, but hell Sousuke doesn’t follow the rules (okay, yeah, he’s a horrible cop sometimes). Besides, as long as he doesn’t break it it’s fine.

“I think you’re just jealous,” Haru says as he dries himself off with his whale shark towel.

“Of course I am. I’m a jealous man!” Sousuke grins over at his boyfriend, who just sticks his tongue out at him.

When they’re both dry, dressed, and leaving the pool, it’s already starting to get dark out. Sousuke’s starving, and he’s sure Haru is too, but neither feel like going to a restaurant or cooking. Sousuke quickly pulls out his phone and orders pizza, and soon enough the two are heading back home, hand in hand.

By the time they get there, the pizza guy is already waiting for them. Sousuke tips him generously, feeling bad that they made him wait, as Haru takes the pizza and heads inside. They cuddle on the couch with pizza for a couple of hours, watching a cartoon on dolphins of all things, before Haru suddenly sits up from out of Sousuke’s arms.

When Sousuke raises an eyebrow at him, Haru says, “Actually, there’s something I wanted to give you.”

“Give me?” Sousuke continues staring at Haru weirdly as he gets up and disappears into the kitchen. “Seriously, what is this special occasion you’ve been going on and on about?”

“You’re an idiot,” Haru calls from the kitchen.

Sousuke crosses his arms grumpily, indignant at being called an idiot, before the freestyler comes back with a cake in his hands. It’s chocolate, Sousuke’s favorite, and there are lit candles sticking out of it. Haru places it on the coffee table in front of Sousuke before standing off to the side awkwardly. Sousuke stares at him incredulously.

“What is this?”

Haru stares at him, eyebrow raised. “It’s a cake.”

Sousuke rolls his eyes. “I know that, but what for?”

“What do you mean what for?”

“I mean _what for?_ ” Sousuke growls, narrowing his eyes as he unsuccessfully tries to push down his growing frustration. Haru has been acting weird _all day_ and yet he insists on pretending like he has no idea what he’s doing? Why is he being so difficult? What the hell is this “special occasion”, and why won’t he tell him?!

Haru sighs. “You really have no idea what day it is today, do you?”

“Sure I do it’s the—” Sousuke stops as he pulls out his phone to check the date. _Oh._

“I can’t believe it took you this long to realize,” Haru snorts, his eyes flashing with amusement as Sousuke’s face flushes with embarrassment. He groans inwardly.

“You’re telling me _this_ is why you’ve been acting weird all day?”

“Weird?” Haru pushes up his eyebrows again before he walks over and hugs Sousuke’s shoulders from behind. “I thought you were enjoying it.”

Sousuke’s face flushes again, but for a different reason this time, and he stubbornly avoids looking at Haru as he tries to control his embarrassment. _God_ he really is an idiot – how did he get so wrapped up in his work that he didn’t even realize what day it was? But, more importantly he realizes…

It’s incredibly sweet that Haru remembered.

“Happy birthday, Sousuke,” Haru murmurs into Sousuke’s hair, and the police officer is so struck by emotion that he can’t help but turn around, pulling Haru down so that he can kiss him passionately. When they separate, Sousuke can’t keep the stupid grin off his face.

“I really do love you, Haruka. Thanks for remembering.”

Haru smirks for a second before it dissolves into the small smile that Sousuke loves so much. He loves it so much that he pulls his boyfriend down for another short kiss. When they separate, Haru flicks his forehead.

“One of us had to.”

“Shut up,” Sousuke laughs as he hugs Haru’s waist over the top of the couch. “I’m an idiot, remember?”

“Oh, I know,” Haru says blandly, and gets a light smack on the top of his head for his sense of humor.

“So hey,” Sousuke says after a few moments of quiet cuddling. He smirks up at Haru when the freestyler looks down at him. “Where’s my present?”

Sousuke can’t help but laugh as Haru’s face morphs into a strange combination of anxiety and exasperation. “I spent the whole day with you, surely that’s—”

“You forgot my present, Haruka?” Sousuke hums as he leaps over the couch and picks his boyfriend up bridal style. Haru flinches and lightly punches Sousuke’s chest as the police officer kisses him. “Hm, you’ll have to make up for it.”

Haru looks extremely confused, his facial expression making Sousuke laugh again. It’s only when he starts walking towards their bedroom that understanding dawns on Haruka, and his look of confusion turns into a smirk.

“You know you could’ve just asked.”

“It’s more fun this way,” Sousuke murmurs as he rubs his nose against Haru’s.

He sees his boyfriend roll his eyes before he lays him down gently on the bed and climbs on top of him. Haru wraps his arms around Sousuke’s shoulders, pulling him down as Sousuke places small kisses on the tanned skin on Haru’s neck.

“Wait, Sousuke, what about the cake?” Haru says as Sousuke starts to take off his shirt. “It took me all day yesterday to make.”

Sousuke can’t help but laugh (only his chef of a boyfriend would be this concerned about a cake in a time like this) before he kisses Haru on the mouth this time. When they part, the police officer grins down at his little dolphin.

“It can wait.”

Haru’s smile is the most beautiful one Sousuke has ever seen, and he once again counts himself lucky that he’s the one who gets to see them. Haru continues to be, and probably always will be, the best thing that’s ever happened to Sousuke.

The best birthday he’s ever had is only proof of that.


End file.
